The present invention relates generally to labels, and, more specifically, to address labels.
Mailers are available in various configurations and sizes for sending various items from a sender at one address to a recipient at another address. A typical mailer is in the form of a container such as a flat envelope, rectangular box, or a cylindrical tube, for example, in which paper correspondence or three dimensional articles may be packaged for delivery.
Recipient and return addresses may be printed directly on the mailers, or may be applied thereto in the form of pressure sensitive labels. Such labels are commonly found in a string or sheet of multiple labels permitting batch addressing to various recipients, commonly from a single sender.
A typical label sheet is a laminate containing several labels adhesively bonded to a common underlying release liner, typically referred to as pressure sensitive labels. Correspondence addresses may be printed on the individual labels in a suitable printer, with the labels then being individually peeled from the liner and affixed to corresponding mailers using the same adhesive found on the back side of the labels. The mailer may then be suitably shipped through the U.S. Postal Service, or private carrier, or local courier to the intended recipient.
When containers are used to ship merchandise to a customer, it is common for the customer to use the same container to return to the sender the merchandise when it fails to meet requirements. The original recipient address must then be obliterated by being either removed or marked over, or a new label may be affixed over the original recipient address. Should the container have a separate return address thereon from the original sender, that return address must also be removed or supplanted.
The quality and security of the replacement addresses on the same container may vary significantly depending on the care and method used for readdressing. In the worst case, a reapplied label may fall off during the return trip of the container, and interrupt the delivery.
In many commercial transactions, merchandise may only be returned with advanced permission and a corresponding return authorization (RA) number therefor. The RA number is typically obtained by phone, and is typically placed on the return label itself for ready visibility by the original sender upon receipt of the container.
Accordingly, it is desired to provide an improved shipping label for both sending a container to a recipient, and returning the same container to a second recipient, such as the original sender.
A label laminate includes a release liner and label bonded thereto by an adhesive. The liner includes a skip in the release thereof, and the label includes a skip in the adhesive thereof aligned therewith. The label is removable from the liner, and the release skip may be printed thereon.